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Do “Myths” of low back pain exist among Irish population? A cross-sectional study

  • Original Article • Lumbar - Epidemiology
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European Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery & Traumatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

Low back pain remains major public health problem in the Western industrialized world. The known prevalence of low back pain in Ireland is approximately 13 %. It is one of the leading causes of sickness compensation and disability pension in our justification. We hypothesized that there is a widespread misconception about the perception of low back pain among the Irish population. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the “Myths” of low back pain existed among the Irish population.

Materials and methods

We carried out a cross-sectional study in the Republic of Ireland from April 2013 to August 2013. The Irish population who visited Galway University Hospital, Galway, Ireland, was contacted randomly at point of entry to the hospital. During the survey, the authors obtained verbal consent before handing the questionnaire, which contained the Deyo’s seven myths. The responders were asked to mark their response in a three-point scale (agree, unsure, disagree) to the seven statements.

Results

Out of 500 responders, 59 (11.8 %) people answered none of the questions correctly. Fifty-six (11.2 %) answered one question correctly, 106 (21.2 %) answered two questions correctly, 85 (17 %) people disagreed with three myths, 88 (17.6 %) disagreed with four myths, 55 (11 %) people answered five questions correctly, and 34 (6.8 %) answered six questions correctly. Therefore, only 17 (3.4 %) people disagreed with all the seven myths.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this cross-sectional study showed that myths of low back pain widely exist among Irish population studied . The level of education played an important role. The findings from this study suggest that public health information regarding low back pain is inadequate and has not affected attitudes to low back pain in an Irish population.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Spine Service, Department of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Galway University Hospitals, National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway, Newcastle road, Galway, Ireland

    Sudarshan Munigangaiah, Aiden T. Devitt & John P. McCabe

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, Galway University Hospitals, Newcastle road, Galway, Ireland

    Navya Basavaraju

  3. School of Public Health, Physiotherapy, and Population Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Dima Y. Jadaan

Authors
  1. Sudarshan Munigangaiah
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  2. Navya Basavaraju
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  3. Dima Y. Jadaan
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  4. Aiden T. Devitt
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  5. John P. McCabe
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Correspondence to Sudarshan Munigangaiah.

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Munigangaiah, S., Basavaraju, N., Jadaan, D.Y. et al. Do “Myths” of low back pain exist among Irish population? A cross-sectional study. Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol 26, 41–46 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-015-1698-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-015-1698-y

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